On Thursday, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-12) along with 26 other State Representativessent a letter to Governor Wolf urging him to rescind the policy update that provides for Pennsylvania birth certificates to include gender neutral language for noted parents.

In 2017, the Pennsylvania Department of Health updated the birth certificate forms to include spaces for one or two “Parents”, rather than the gendered language of “Mother” and “Father”.

This change is gender inclusive as it makes these forms accessible to couples of the same gender and those parents who do not identify along a gender binary. In the past, for example, a lesbian couple would have to put (as able) one parent name in the “Father” designation.

The letter is here below. News outlets have begun reporting on the letter, such ashere by Fox 43.

Governor Wolf and Acting Secretary of Health + Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine are openly supportive of LGBTQ inclusion. We will continue to monitor this development and work to provide education to legislators on the importance of government forms being inclusive and accessible to all.

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